A major step toward being able to regulate nerve cells externally with the help of electronics has been taken by researchers at Linköping University and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. The breakthrough is based on an ion transistor of plastic that can transport ions and charged biomolecules and thereby address and regulate cells.

The invention, which opens new avenues for controlling chemical signals, is being published in the coming issue of the highly ranked scientific journal PNAS. The authors are Klas Tybrandt and Magnus Berggren of Linköping University, who developed the invention, and Karin Larsson and Agneta Richter-Dahlfors at the Karolinska Institute, who have used it in experiments with cultivated nerve cells. Continue reading →